London: A 38-year old man has been charged with the murder of Indian millionaire businessman Amarjit Chohan, who mysteriously vanished along with his family from his West London residence three months ago, a Scotland Yard spokesman said on May 17.

"A 38-year-old man has been charged with the murder and will appear in custody at West London Magistrate's Court," the spokesman said.

He did not name the man, but it was reported last week that the person police had arrested in connection with the family's disappearance was believed to be Peter Douglas Rees, 38.

Rees was named by police earlier this month as a "close associate" of Ken Regan, alias Avery, a former employee of Chohan, and William Horncy, alias Smith, both of whom have been named as suspects in the case.

54-year-old Regan from Salisbury, Wiltshire, and Horncy, 50, from the Bournemouth area, were seen boarding a ferry at Dover last month, reportedly on their way to Spain.

46-year-old Chohan's body was found in the sea off Bournemouth pier last month. He and his family vanished from their home at Hounslow in February.

A post-mortem showed that he had been strangled, then buried in a field in Devon. After that his body was exhumed and dumped in the sea.

Chohan's wife Nancy, 25, and their sons Devinder, 19 months, and Ravinder, 4 months, and Nancy's mother Charanjit Kaur, 51, are still missing.

PTI